Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 344 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Hess were worth $3,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hess by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,256 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $17,048,000 after buying an additional 48,686 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 101.0% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 577,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $83,252,000 after acquiring an additional 290,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HES. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.42.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $156.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $124.27 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.93.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Hess news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 162,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,433,050.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total value of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at $5,073,417.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

About Hess

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.